September 29, 2016

ATLANTA— The Phillies entered Thursday night's game heading into their final game at Turner Field, as the stadium closes after this season's end. They were looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Braves, after dropping their last two games to the team.

It was a pitcher's duel for the most part during the first couple innings, until Jeremy Hellickson left the game in the fourth inning after giving up only one hit. Hellickson was later diagnosed with a knee strain, as his season ends with only three games remaining.

The Phillies held onto a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning, until Dansby Swanson tied the game up with a solo home run.

However, Jeanmar Gomez once again struggled in the eighth inning, giving up four runs, as the bullpen once again made it hard for the Phillies to claw back from any sort of deficit.

The Phillies pushed back in the top of the ninth with hits from A.J. Ellis and Aaron Altherr, who scored Ellis, but it was too little, too late as the Phillies dropped the game and the series to the Braves, 5-2.

The loss is the Phillies fourth straight, and they have now lost six out of seven games.

They'll head into the weekend to play their final three games at home against the New York Mets, who are looking to clinch the first NL Wild Card spot.

The Phillies send Alec Asher to the mound on Friday night, as he'll face the Mets' RHP Robert Gsellman at 7:05 at Citizens Bank Park.

September 28, 2016

ATLANTA — The Philadelphia Phillies (70-88) were hoping to shift the series momentum in their favor after last night's late-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves (65-92). However, that was not in the cards for tonight's match-up. Phillies lefty Adam Morgan was making his final start of the year in his hometown and to say that he struggled would be an understatement. He bumbled through five innings, allowing nine runs on ten hits to secure his eleventh loss of the season. The bullpen didn't fare much better. The Phils' pitching staff has allowed a whopping 65 runs in their last six games.

Offensively, the Phillies struggled immensely. Part of that is due to a lack of solid at-bats, but part of that can be attributed to the performance of Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz. The righty only allowed two hits and a single run over five innings and had excellent movement on all of his pitches. Foltynewicz looked like a completely different pitcher from the one the Phillies beat earlier this season; in that July game, he threw five and two-thirds innings and allowed five runs on eight hits. He deserves credit for the role he played in the Braves' victory over the Phils.

The Phillies have now lost eight of their last nine road games. Even worse, the team has a 16-35 record in their last 51 games against the NL East.

ATLANTA — Philadelphia Phillies (70-87) starter RHP Jerad Eickhoff was cruising through four innings in the series opener against the National League-worst Atlanta Braves (64-92) and RHP Julio Teheran Tuesday evening at Turner Field.

Through four innings, the right-hander had allowed just one runner to reach with five strikeouts recorded: a solo home run to opposing first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Rain stopped game action twice in the series opener, the first a near 30-minute delay prior to the start of the contest and the second a one-hour, 53-minute delay coming after the completion of the bottom of the fourth inning.

Eickhoff's outing was cut short, putting the game into the hands of the Phillies bullpen which has a MLB-worst 8.03 ERA in the month of September. Ultimately, a 6-1 lead was erased resulting in the team's 87th loss of the season and their fifth straight loss the Braves.

Left fielder Roman Quinn left Tuesday's game early with a strained left oblique. He was 3-4 with a double, two runs scored and stolen base prior to his sixth-inning departure. He likely finishes 2016 with a .263/.373/.333 slash with four doubles, six RBIs and five stolen bases over 15 games.

September 25, 2016

FLUSHING, N.Y. — On the heels of the tragic death of fellow National League East divisional opponent RHP Jose Fernandez, the Philadelphia Phillies (70-86) and New York Mets (83-73) met on Sunday for their final Citi Field matchup of the season featuring right-handed starters Jake Thompson and Robert Gsellman.

Behind Gsellman's seven shutout innings, the Mets ultimately came out on top to capture the win series victory of the four-game set in which they outscored the Phillies 44-23. The Phillies allowed 25 unanswered runs to conclude the series.

The Phillies mustered just three hits on offense off the bats of shortstop Freddy Galvis, left fielder Cody Asche and catcher Jorge Alfaro. Center fielder Odubel Herrera and third baseman Maikel Franco each walked in the contest. Thompson allowed three runs on five and three walks through four innings, suffering his sixth career losing decision.

Prior to the game, a moment of silence honoring the life and career of Fernandez, who was killed in a boating accident off of Miami Beach early Sunday morning, was held. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes also hung a Mets jersey with Fernandez' name on it in their dugout.

September 23, 2016

FLUSHING, N.Y. — A matchup that took three hours and 40 minutes to play between the Philadelphia Phillies (69-85) and the National League Wild Card-hopeful New York Mets (82-72) ended in favor of the home team Friday evening at Citi Field.

Despite the two teams being even in the hit column at 10, New York slugged past Phillies pitching with five extra base hits, four doubles and a home run. The Phillies were denied their 70th victory of the season and with the loss fell to 28-40 against National League East opponents this season.

In suffering the losing decision, Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson lasted 4 1/3 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks. Mets rookie RHP Gabriel Ynoa earned his second career starting nod and the eighth appearance overall of his career. Rookie southpaw Steven Matz was the scheduled starter prior to Ynoa, however he was scratched Thursday with a potential season-ending left shoulder soreness.

Five games remain on the Phillies' seven-game road trip before they return home for their final series starting next Friday against the Mets. The Phillies have lost four of their last five games and have surrendered 29 home runs in their last 14 against their division rivals.

September 22, 2016

New York, NY - The Phillies led 6-4 in the ninth and 8-6 in the eleventh, but the Mets overcame both deficits to earn a 9-8 win in game one of the series opener at Citi Field on Thursday night. They have a half game lead in the National League Wild Card race.

Philadelphia was ahead by two in the ninth, but Jeanmar Gomez gave up the game-tying two-run homer to Jose Reyes, blowing his sixth save of the season. Gomez has allowed 12 earned runs in 6.2 innings during the month of September, which equals out to a 17.42 ERA. The Phils took another two-run lead in the top half of the eleventh, but New York got a three-run blast off the bat of Asdrubal Cabrera to secure the walk-off victory.

Ryan Howard and Cameron Rupp hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth, but the Phils fell behind 4-3 in the seventh. Maikel Franco belted a three-run homer in the eighth, putting the Phils ahead by two. That home run snapped a 27-game homerless drought for Franco. A.J. Ellis hit an RBI-single in the top of the eleventh to put the Phils ahead again, but Edubray Ramos couldn't preserve a two-run advantage in the bottom half of the frame, leading to the Mets walk-off victory.

It was a crazy game, with a total of 49 players being used between the two teams.

The Phillies and Mets continue their series on Friday night as Jeremy Hellickson is set to oppose right-hander Gabriel Ynoa.

September 21, 2016

PHILADELPHIA— Wednesday night was the final game of the three-game interleague series at Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies hosted the Chicago White Sox.

After winning the first two games of the series, the Phillies sent Jerad Eickhoff to the mound to face AL Cy Young contender Chris Sale.

The Phillies fell down 1-0, due to an early solo home run from Adam Eaton, however that did not stop the Phillies' offense from taking off in the middle portion of the game.

The Phillies scored eight straight runs over the White Sox with stellar hitting from Tommy Joseph and Maikel Franco.

Besides three home runs given up by Jerad Eickhoff, he pitched seven strong innings to set up stellar bullpen outings from Joely Rodriguez and David Hernandez.

The Phillies finished off the White Sox, and sweeping them in front of the home crowd. Philadelphia will head back on the road tomorrow to face the New York Mets in a four game series. Adam Morgan will take the hill for the Phils.

September 18, 2016

Philadelphia, PA - The Philadelphia Phillies got an early lead in Sunday's series finale, but Hector Neris surrendered three runs in the eighth as the Miami Marlins avoided the sweep with a 5-4 win.

Leading 4-2 heading to the eighth, Neris hit a batter and then allowed a game-tying two-run homer to Christian Yelich. An RBI-single from J.T. Realmuto plated an unearned run, giving the Marlins the lead. A defensive mishap in the eighth proved costly as well, as a routine pop-up was dropped just beyond the first base dirt. Both Tommy Joseph and Cesar Hernandez were in pursuit and the ball went in and out of Cesar's glove, allowing Ozuna to reach second and eventually score on Realmuto's single with two outs when the inning could have been over in a tie.

Freddy Galvis hit his 20th homer of the season this afternoon, giving the Phillies four infielders with 20 home runs for the first time in franchise history. Ryan Howard (22), Tommy Joseph (20) and Maikel Franco (22) have each made it to the 20 home run mark this season for the Phillies. Odubel Herrera also hit a home run today.

The Phillies have a day off before hosting the Chicago White Sox for a two-game series beginning on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Jake Thompson will get the start for Philadelphia against veteran right-hander James Shields.

With the victory, the Phillies secured their seventh consecutive winning season against the Marlins dating back to 2010. It was Hellickson's third career complete game and his first since Sept. 4, 2011, with the Tampa Bay Rays. In recording his 12th victory, it is the most by a Phillies pitcher in a single season since 2013 when southpaw Cliff Lee won 14, notes Meghan Montemurro.

Marlins starter RHP Jose Urena lasted just two innings with seven runs surrendered on as many hits and two walks. Hellickson, on the other hand, allowed only three hits with five strikeouts.

PHILADELPHIA— The Phillies came into Friday night getting ready to take on the visiting Miami Marlins for a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils are coming off of a back-and-forth four game cross-state rivalry series against Pittsburgh, in which the Phillies and Pirates split the series.

Philadelphia was looking for a big win against their division counterparts, and try to make the Marlins' wild card hopes a little less attainable. The Phillies sent Adam Morgan to the hill to face Tom Koehler.

While both the Phillies and Marlins contributed hits early on in the contest, runs were a hard thing to come by until the fifth inning. Adam Morgan surrendered seven hits and two runs, none earned against the Marlins offense. Morgan's start on Friday night was comparable to his last three starts, where allowed a combined five earned runs, pitching into the sixth inning into three of those starts.

Manager Pete Mackanin shockingly pulled Morgan after four and a third innings and only allowing one run in favor of David Hernandez, who got out of the inning, with runners on second and third base.

Ryan Howard, notably, got the scoring going early on in the ballgame with a solo shot, his 22nd of the year. Howard's solo blast was his 379th of his incredible career in the MLB. That career home run tied Tony Perez and Orlando Cepeda for 70th on the all-time list.

The Phillies and the Marlins would trade zeroes on the scoreboard, all the way up until the thirteenth inning, which officially made it the longest game of the 2016 season for the Phillies.

Jimmy Paredes hit a single to right field to walk-off in the bottom of the thirteenth, to give the Phillies the win in dramatic fashion and send the crowd home happy.

The Phillies will look to continue their momentum against the Marlins in Philly tomorrow night as they will send their reliable veteran righty Jeremy Hellickson to the mound to face José Urena.